| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 73.37 |
| Liaison | Olivia Herron |
| Submission Date | Feb. 28, 2022 |
Miami University
EN-5: Outreach Campaign
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Adam
Sizemore Director of Sustainability Physical Facilities Department |
Has the institution held a sustainability-related outreach campaign during the previous three years that was directed at students and yielded measurable, positive results in advancing sustainability?:
Has the institution held a sustainability-related outreach campaign during the previous three years that was directed at employees and yielded measurable, positive results in advancing sustainability?:
Name of the campaign:
A brief description of the campaign:
In FY2020, Miami University entered into the Recyclemania competition. We entered Miami University into four Recyclemania competitions in Spring 2020:(1) Per Capita Classic, (2) Gameday Basketball, (3) Electronic Waste, and (4) Race to Zero Waste. In 2019, we only competed in Per Capita Classic and Electronic Waste in Spring 2019, as well as did not promote the event across campus. This time we entered into two additional competitions, as well as significantly increased the amount of promotional material and efforts across campus. In doing so, we increased collaboration amongst students, faculty, and staff to expand our efforts.
Included below is detailed information related to our efforts in each specific competition.
* Recyclemania Per Capita Classic Marketing/Planning Efforts/Initiatives
(1) Designed and distributed A-Frames across campus announcing the competition.
(2) Designed and distributed six unique flyers across campus (including residential halls)
o General Recyclemania Announcement 1
o General Recyclemania Announcement 2
o Spring Cleaning Competition
o You Can Recycle This (Paper)
o You Can Recycle This (Bottles)
o You Can Recycle This (Cosmetics)
o You Can Recycle This (Food-Related)
(3) Social Media Posts updating on Weekly Progress
o Other social media accounts shared posts to their page and story, which
increased exposure across campus.
(4) Weekly tabling in Armstrong Student Center where we played “What is Recyclable?”.
(5) Worked with PFD staff and other departments to purge offices of recyclable material to increase recycling rates.
o Designed and implemented the Spring-Cleaning Competition where individuals purge
their office of recyclables.
(6) Put announcement posters on the solar golf cart and drove around campus daily
(7) Greenhawks Media and the Oxford Observer wrote articles about the competition.
(8) We put Recyclemania stickers on 2,772 Starbucks coffee sleeves for Shriver Center and Withrow locations.
Gameday Basketball Competition Marketing/Planning Efforts/Initiatives:
(1) Worked with Athletics and Student Life for an incentive for students to attend the game.
o We ended up ordering 500 Hydro flasks, which were given out to the first 500 students in attendance.
(2) Designed and hung 250 flyers specific to the March 6th game across campus (including residential halls)
(3) Engaged student volunteers to track and sort landfill and recycling numbers.
(4) Developed a “what is recyclable?” game for the Crawfords to play at halftime to engage the audience around best waste management strategies.
(5) Designed and placed A-Frames across campus promoting the gameday competition.
(6) Gave student organizations the opportunity to have booths set up at the game.
(7) Worked with concessions to reduce waste at the game. We reduced the use of
straws and utensils by giving them out to patrons-only by request. Concessions also reduced the small cups used to give condiments for nachos.
Race to Zero Waste Marketing/Planning Efforts/Initiatives:
(1) We chose Scott, Minnich, Hamilton, and Richard halls for the Race to Zero Waste
Competition.
(2) Designed and placed bulletin boards in each residential hall advertising the event. The bulletin boards will also display the weekly weight scores for each building.
(3) Designed and administered social media designs for the RAs and RDs to advertise the event.
(4) Worked with Residential Life to place clothing donation bins for residents to reduce their overall waste scores. Donated clothing was taken to the Zero Waste Oxford thrift shop.
o We estimated each hall’s weight at 6:00 pm every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday of each week of the competition.
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, we had to cut the 8-week competition short at week 5.
In FY2021, we entered into the Campus Race to Zero Waste, but did not track waste due to the majority of campus working remotely. Thus, we posted three Instagram posts a week focused on Recycling, Zero Waste, and Food Waste -- each week had a quiz, informational post, and scavenger hunt.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
FY 2020 Competition Metrics -
(1) A total of 30 students have played over the course of 4 weeks.
(2) A total of 7 individuals have said they purged their office of recyclables over the course of 4 weeks.
(3) We currently had 10 students signed up to help volunteer.
(4) Roughly 6 student organizations at booths at the gameday.
(5) 374 pounds of clothing was donated from the residence halls.
(6) Hamilton Hall produced the least amount of waste.
(7) Recycling Wastes
o Week 1 - 37,480
o Week 2 - 44,700
o Week 3 - 29,660
o Week 4 - 36,740
o Week 5 - 34,120
(8)GameDay - 361 pounds of waste with a 34% diversion rate.
Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
A brief description of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Eco Reps (residence hall program; one Eco-Rep per residence hall, educates students, conducts contests, programs) each semester conducts a "Before" and "after" waste audit of trash and recycling in residence halls. Eco-Reps target a hall and sort and weigh the trash vs. recyclables that mixed in with trash. After the first waste audit, Eco-Reps help educates residents on what is recyclable and how to recycle (so easy with co-located bins). The follow-up waste audit measures success.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
The "After" waste audit shows a decrease in the amount (weight) of items that can be recycled that end up in the trash/waste stream.
Between November 10th, 2020 and November 9th, 2021, MU EcoReps:
- Conducted 8 trash audit events of 29 residence halls.
- Sent out 376 EcoFact emails
A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Contact Susan Meikle - meiklesb@miamioh.edu
Contact Susan Meikle - meiklesb@miamioh.edu
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.